China plans to ban petrol and diesel cars. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Industry Xin Guobin during a conference, without however providing any indication of the expected timing.
According to the president of the association of Chinese car manufacturers, Cui Dongshu, it will be “a long process: it will be difficult to stop the production of traditional hydrocarbon-powered vehicles for the next two decades. We could see significant evolutions in passenger cars by 2040, maybe sooner, but for other vehicles like trucks it will be difficult." Diesel and petrol vehicles will also be banned in France and Great Britain, which have set 2040 as their deadline.
Beijing's choice could redesign the projects of the entire automotive industry. "These measures will lead to profound changes in the environment and will give a boost to the development of the Chinese automotive industry - Xin said in an interview with state television CCTV - Manufacturers will have to work hard to improve the level of consumption of traditional cars and develop new cars with low environmental impact in line with the requirements of forthcoming regulations”.
La China produced about 28 million vehicles last year and, pending the new regulations, foreign manufacturers have already launched plans to increase the production of electric cars in the country. Volvo announced that it will produce only electric or hybrid cars from 2019 and will launch its first all-electric car in China later that year while Ford will put its first hybrid on sale next year, expecting 100% of its cars available in China will have an electric version by 70.
China's market leader Volkswagen sold 4 million cars in the country last year but only a few hundred with green engines. The German manufacturer will start production of an electric car next year, in a joint venture with the Chinese group JAC. Volkswagen China CEO Jochem Heizmann plans to sell around 400 green cars in the country by 2020.
